Hi Derek
I first came across this article many years ago which led to my giving the challenge to design students in different countries (architects to HCI) over the past few decades. The technical report is:
Communication Measures to Bridge Ten Millennia, Thomas A. Sebeok of Research Center for Language and Semiotic Studies, Indiana University
Prepared for Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus OH, April 1984
BMI/ONWI-532
Distribution Category UC-70
I would ask the students to do a timeline covering the past ten millennia before thinking about how to imagine the next ten. Reactions and responses from the students have covered a broad spectrum over the years.
Regards
Harold
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On Mar 26, 2011, at 3:15 PM, Derek Miller wrote:
> I've looked. I can't find it. My compound question is: Does anyone remember what this was, and if so, can you point me to a primary source:
>
> Sometime in the 1980s I read a piece about how NASA had commissioned artists (designers?) to try and imagine a future some 10,000 years ahead. Their job was to find a means of communicating that the ground "here" was hazardous and people shouldn't go here. They shouldn't even visit let alone stay, grow crops, etc. The artists were to take almost nothing for granted. Languages may have evolved. Libraries destroyed. Our physical appearances may have changed somewhat. The basic brief was to try and communicate to such people. It may have been Discover magazine (U.S.) and they printed the paintings and ideas and analyzed them.
>
> Won't get into a discussion on this until my memory is refreshed. But if anyone remembers this, I would be grateful.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Derek
>
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